AstraZeneca has reportedly initiated the withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine worldwide, as an excess of updated vaccines has been available since the pandemic.
The Anglo-Swiss pharmaceutical firm would withdraw the marketing authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine, dubbed Vaxzevria, in Europe.
The company applied to withdraw the vaccine on 5 March and came into effect on 7 May, according to the Telegraph report.
The company said: “As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed there is a surplus of available updated vaccines, which had led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied.”
The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid‑19 vaccine, sold under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria, is a viral vector vaccine intended for the prevention of Covid-19.
The vaccine was developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, using as a vector the modified chimpanzee adenovirus ChAdOx1.
AstraZeneca is facing a £100m lawsuit in the UK and has recently admitted in court documents that their vaccine causes some serious side effects such as TTS.
TTS (thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome) is a rare and serious condition characterised by the formation of blood clots combined with low levels of platelets in the blood.
AstraZeneca started moving towards respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines and obesity drugs after the sales of its Covid-19 medicine declined.
In July last year, AstraZeneca and Sanofi’s Beyfortus (nirsevimab) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent RSV and LRTD in newborns and infants.
In December, the British drugmaker agreed to acquire Icosavax, a US-based biopharmaceutical company focused on vaccine development, for about $1.1bn.
